Note: The job is a remote job and is open to candidates in USA. EF Go Ahead Tours is looking for a driven, relationship-first Business Development Manager to grow our Travel Advisor channel. This role involves owning the full lifecycle from identifying and signing new advisors to activating their first booking and building long-term volume, while also helping to build the strategy and processes for scaling the Travel Advisor program nationally.
Responsibilities
- Prospect, sign, and activate Travel Advisors and agency accounts across your territory
- Execute a territory plan: call cadences, agency visits, trade shows, consortium events, and virtual presentations
- Hit monthly and quarterly new-activation targets
- Reactivate lapsed advisors and convert them into consistent producers
- Own booking volume across your active advisor book; accountable to quarterly revenue quotas
- Serve as the primary EF Go Ahead Tours contact for top-producing advisors, delivering training, promotional support, and account-level plans that include co-op marketing
- Attend tradeshows, consortium events, and industry conferences
- Equip advisors with co-op materials and booking incentives in collaboration with Marketing
- Maintain accurate CRM data; track pipeline, activities, and booking attribution
- Report on KPIs weekly and, as a founding channel member, contribute to the advisor program playbook, portal requirements, and commission tier design
Skills
- 5+ years of B2B sales or business development experience in the travel industry (tour operator, cruise line, Destination Management Company, or similar)
- Demonstrated track record of prospecting and closing new accounts, not just managing existing relationships
- Deep familiarity with the Travel Advisor distribution channel: consortia (Virtuoso, Ensemble, Signature, Travel Leaders), host agencies (Fora, Nexion, Outside Agents), and independent agencies
- Self-starter who can build a territory from scratch with minimal day-to-day oversight, comfortable operating in ambiguity
- Strong presentation and communication skills, comfortable training a room of advisors or pitching a consortium executive
- Ability to travel up to 40%, including overnight stays and occasional domestic and international travel for company events
- Must have at least 4 years of relevant work experience or a 4-year degree
- Existing relationships with travel advisors, agency owners, or consortium contacts
- Experience with guided tour operators (escorted touring, river cruise, or similar product categories)
- Passion for travel and firsthand experience with international destinations
- Proficiency with salesforce
Benefits
- Commitment to professional growth: robust monthly calendar of trainings and workshops
- Four weeks paid vacation your first year, ten paid holidays, and two floating holidays
- Exciting business travel opportunities
- 25% company match on your 401(k) contributions
- Market-leading medical, dental and vision coverage, along with options for life and disability insurance, accident and hospital insurance, legal and pet insurance
- Dependent care, healthcare and commuter Flex Spending Accounts (FSAs)
- Access to fertility care and family-building support
- Wellness benefits including a yearly fitness reimbursement
- Frequent social and learning events, including access to our employee-run resource groups
- Robust Employee Assistance Program
- Tenure-based sabbatical eligibility
- EF Product Discounts (discounts on travel, international language schools, Au Pair program and more)
- Discounts at local venues and businesses
Company Overview